Dynamic internet address assignment based on user identity and policy compliance

ABSTRACT

In embodiments of the present invention, improved capabilities are described for a method presenting a client, providing client information and requesting an IP address from a DHCP server, where the DHCP server may formulate a first IP assignment and a first multiple DHCP options. A policy management facility may be associated with the interception of the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP options, which may result in the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP options not being sent to the client. The method may send client information to the policy management facility. The policy management facility may formulate a second multiple DHCP options and may send it to the DHCP server. The DHCP server may change first IP assignment and first multiple DHCP option to a second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP options. The second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP options may then be forwarded to the client.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/035,638 filed on Feb. 22, 2008, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention is related to secure computing, and morespecifically to IP address assignment and DHCP options assignment to aclient.

2. Description of the Related Art

A client, when connecting to an Internet Protocol (IP) network, requestsan IP address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.The responding DHCP server then assigns an IP address to the client. TheDHCP server also assigns DHCP options to the client that are necessaryfor the client to operate on an IP network. Both the IP address and theDHCP options are then transmitted back to the client, which allows theclient to operate on the IP network. Since the assignment is not tied toany policy rule associated with the client or to the user, theassignments are made automatically. This may be an issue if the clientor the user poses a threat to network components or network accessibleenterprise resources. There exists therefore a need for improved ways toassign IP addresses and DHCP options to a client.

SUMMARY

In embodiments of the present invention, improved capabilities aredescribed for a dynamic internet address assignment based on useridentity and policy compliance. The method includes presenting a clientmay request an IP address from a DHCP server, wherein the client mayprovide client information to the DHCP server; formulate a first IPassignment and a first multiple DHCP options by the DHCP server;intercept the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP options bya policy management facility, wherein intercepting may stop the sendingof the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP options to theclient; send client information to the policy management facility;formulate a second multiple DHCP options in association with the policymanagement facility, wherein the second multiple DHCP options may besent from the policy management facility to the DHCP server; change theDHCP options in the DHCP server from the first IP assignment and firstmultiple DHCP options to a second IP assignment and the second multipleDHCP options; and send the second IP assignment and the second multipleDHCP options from the DHCP server to the client, wherein the client mayapply the second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP options inassociation with a client security facility.

In embodiments, the client request may be made when the clientinitializes the network, first connects to the network, boots up, or thelike. In embodiments, the client request may be made in association witha lease, a security threat detected by the client end-point securityfacility, or the like. In embodiments, the client request for an IPaddress may be generated through a TCP/IP configured software residenton the client.

In embodiments, the DHCP server may implement a protocol used by theclient to obtain parameters necessary for the client to operate on aninternet protocol (IP) network. The parameter may be an IP address, asubnet mask, a default gateway, a lease, a TCP/IP configurationparameter, or some other type of parameter. Further, in embodiments, thelease may be associated with a length of time for which the IP addressis allocated. Furthermore, the lease may be renewed.

In embodiments, the client may send a broadcast query to the networkrequesting the parameters from the DHCP server. Further, in embodiments,the broadcast query may be a discovery of the physical subnet to findavailable DHCP servers. In addition, the client may send the broadcastquery when the client performs network initialization or when the clientboots up.

In embodiments, the DHCP server may provide for a dynamic allocation ofIP addresses. Further, the dynamic allocation may provide for a range ofIP addresses. Furthermore, the range of IP address may be assigned by anadministrator. In embodiments, the dynamic allocation may utilize thelease. Further, the lease may represent the time period for which the IPaddress may be valid.

In embodiments, the DHCP server may manage a number of IP addresses.Further, IP addresses may have been allocated. Furthermore, inembodiments, the allocation may be by an internet assigned numbersauthority, a regional internet registry, an enterprise administrator orsome other type of allocation. In embodiments, the IP address may be aunique address for network components of an IP network. Further, the IPaddress enables network components to communicate a unique address forthe Internet, a unique address for a specific network, a unique addressfor an enterprise, a private IP address, or some other type of IPaddress.

In embodiments, multiple DHCP options are used to assign networkconfiguration parameters. Further, the configuration may be automatic.In addition, the configuration may be for IP hosts. In embodiments, thenetwork configuration parameter may be associated with a full networkaccess, a normal network, a restricted access, or some other type ofnetwork configuration parameters. Furthermore, the restricted access mayprovide only external network access. In embodiments, the networkconfiguration parameter may be associated with isolating the client. Theisolated client may be associated with quarantine.

In embodiments, the network configuration parameter may be a subnetmask, a router, a time server, a name server, a domain server, a logserver, a quotes server, a LPR server, an impress server, a RLP server,a hostname, a domain name, a static route, a vendor specific, an addressrequest, an address time, a class ID, a client ID, a relay agentinformation, a classless static route, an IEE 802.1Q VLAN ID, or someother type of network configuration parameters.

In embodiments, the client information may be provided from the clientto the DHCP server. Further, the client information may be provided bythe client as a part of the client request for an IP address, Inaddition, the client information may be provided automatically as a partof the client request for the IP address or when the DHCP server mayrequest the client information. Furthermore, the DHCP server request maybe made each time a client requests an IP address, in association with aDHCP plug-in, may be initiated by the DHCP plug-in, and the like.

In embodiments, the client information may be a MAC address, a time ofday, a current location of the client, a user ID, a user name, an IPaddress requested by the client, a DHCP option requested by the client,a client capability, or some other type of client information. Further,the client capability may be the presence of a software application, anetwork access control capability, or some other type of clientcapability.

In embodiments, the client information may be security vulnerability.Further, the security vulnerability may be associated with malwaresecurity vulnerability. In embodiments, the malware securityvulnerability may be from the client having no end-point securityfacility or out of date end-point security facility. Furthermore, theend-point security facility may be malware security software.

In embodiments the malware security vulnerability may be from the clientend-point security facility detecting a malware threat, a suspiciousbehavior, associated with a client end-point firewall, and the like.Further, there may be no client end-point firewall or the clientend-point firewall may be improperly configured.

In embodiments, the client information may be software vulnerability.Further, the software vulnerability may be associated with a license, aregistration, an unauthorized software application, or some other typeof software vulnerability. Furthermore, the license may be out of dateor there may be no valid license agreement. In embodiments, theregistration may be out of date or there may be no valid registration.

In embodiments, the client information may be a client configurationstatus. Further, the client configuration status may be associated withthe policy management facility, the client operating system, the clientend-point security facility, or some other type of client configurationstatus. Furthermore, in embodiments, the policy management facility mayread the configuration status as an indication of policy compliance.

In embodiments, interception may be provided by the DHCP plug-in, theapplication server, the policy management facility, or some other typeof mechanism.

In embodiments, formulating the second multiple DHCP options inassociation with the policy management facility may be in associationwith a policy. Further, the policy may be associated with useridentification, a client configuration, an end-point security status, alocation, a time or some other type of policy, and the like.

In embodiments, the user identification may be associated with anenterprise organizational set of policies, employment status, personalpolicy profile, or some other type of user identification. Further, theenterprise organizational set of policies may be associated with adepartment, a management position within the enterprise, a personnelposition within the enterprise, an outside contractor, a visitor to theenterprise, or some other type of parameter.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with the clientconfiguration. The client configuration may be associated withcompliance, a client capability, and the like. Further, the compliancemay be end-point security compliance. Furthermore, the end-pointsecurity compliance may be associated with the client having updatedend-point security software. In embodiments, the compliance may be asoftware application compliance, a hardware compliance, a registrationcompliance, a license compliance, or some other type of compliance. Inembodiment, the client configuration may be associated with the clientcapability. Further, the client capability may be a software capability,a hardware capability, a network access capability, an interfacecapability, or some other type of client capability.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with an end-point securitystatus. Further, the end-point security status may indicate detection ofmalware or of suspicious behavior. The suspicious behavior may beassociated with a software file or a user action.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with a location. Thelocation may be a current location, the home location, the previouslocation, a geographic location, an enterprise location, a personallocation, a mobile location, or some other type of location.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with a time. The time maybe associated with work hours. In addition, the time may be duringnormal work hours, after work hours, late night, or some other time.

In embodiments of the present invention, improved capabilities aredescribed for dynamic internet address assignment and policy compliance.The method may present the client requesting an IP address from a DHCPserver, wherein the client may provide client information to the DHCPserver; formulate the first IP assignment and a first multiple DHCPoptions by the DHCP server; provide a DHCP plug-in in the DHCP server;intercept the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP options bythe DHCP plug-in, wherein intercepting may stop the sending of the firstIP assignment and the first multiple DHCP options to the client; sendclient information to a policy management facility through the DHCPplug-in; formulate the second multiple DHCP options in association withthe policy management facility, wherein the second multiple DHCP optionsmay be sent from the policy management facility to the DHCP plug-in;change the DHCP options in the DHCP server from the first IP assignmentand first multiple DHCP options to a second IP assignment and the secondmultiple DHCP options in association with the DHCP plug-in and sends thesecond IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP options from the DHCPserver to the client, wherein the client applies the second IPassignment and the second multiple DHCP options in association with aclient security facility.

In embodiments of the present invention, improved capabilities aredescribed for dynamic internet address assignment and policy compliance.The method may presents the client requesting an IP address from theDHCP server, wherein the client may provide client information to theDHCP server; formulate the first IP assignment and the first multipleDHCP options by the DHCP server; provide the DHCP plug-in in the DHCPserver, wherein the DHCP plug-in acts as an application server client toan application server; intercept the first IP assignment and the firstmultiple DHCP options by the DHCP plug-in, wherein intercepting stopsthe sending of the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCPoptions to the client; send client information from the DHCP plug-in tothe application server; send client information from the applicationserver to a policy management facility; formulate a second multiple DHCPoptions in association with the policy management facility, wherein thesecond multiple DHCP options is sent from the policy management facilityto the DHCP plug-in through the application server; change the DHCPoptions in the DHCP server from the first IP assignment and firstmultiple DHCP options to a second IP assignment and the second multipleDHCP options in association with the DHCP plug-in; and send the secondIP assignment and the second multiple DHCP options from the DHCP serverto the client, wherein the client applies the second IP assignment andthe second multiple DHCP options in association with a client securityfacility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention and the following detailed description of certainembodiments thereof may be understood by reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of the threat management facilityproviding protection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats.

FIG. 2 shows a process flow embodiment for dynamic internet addressassignment based on user identity and policy compliance.

FIG. 3 shows a process flow embodiment for dynamic internet addressassignment based on user identity and policy compliance without a DHCPplug-in.

FIG. 4 shows a process flow embodiment for dynamic internet addressassignment based on user identity and policy compliance by adding a DHCPplug-in.

FIG. 5 shows a process flow embodiment for dynamic internet addressassignment based on user identity and policy compliance by adding a DHCPplug-in and application server.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, other embodiments would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art and are encompassed herein.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An aspect of the present invention relates to corporate policymanagement and their implementation through a threat management facility100. As will be explained in more detail below, a threat managementfacility 100 is used to protect computer assets from many threats, bothcomputer generated threats and user generated threats. The threatmanagement facility 100 is multi-dimensional in that it is designed toprotect corporate assets from a variety of threats and it is adapted tolearn about threats in one dimension (e.g. worm detection) and apply theknowledge in another dimension (e.g. spam detection). Corporate policymanagement is one of the dimensions for which the threat managementfacility can control. The corporation may institute a policy thatprevents certain people (e.g. employees, groups of employees, types ofemployees, guest of the corporation, etc.) from accessing certain typesof computer programs. For example, the corporation may elect to preventits accounting department from using a particular version of an instantmessaging service or all such services. In this example, the policymanagement facility 112 may be used to update the policies of allcorporate computing assets with a proper policy control facility or itmay update a select few. By using the threat management facility 100 tofacilitate the setting, updating and control of such policies thecorporation only needs to be concerned with keeping the threatmanagement facility 100 up to date on such policies. The threatmanagement facility 100 can take care of updating all of the othercorporate computing assets.

It should be understood that the threat management facility 100 mayprovide multiple services and policy management may be offered as one ofthe services. We will now turn to a description of the threat managementsystem 100.

Over recent years, malware has become a major problem across theinternet 154. From both technical and user perspectives thecategorization of a specific threat type, such as whether it is a virus,worm, spam, phishing exploration, spyware, adware, or the like, isbecoming reduced in significance. The threat, no matter how it'scategorized, may need to be stopped at all points of the enterprisefacility 102, including laptop, desktop, server facility 142, gateway,and the like. Similarly, there may be less and less benefit to the userin having different solutions for known and unknown threats. As such, aconsolidated threat management facility 100 may need to be applied tothe same set of technologies and capabilities for all threats. Thethreat management facility 100 may provide a single agent on thedesktop, and a single scan of any suspect file. This approach mayeliminate the inevitable overlaps and gaps in protection caused bytreating viruses and spyware as separate problems, while simultaneouslysimplifying administration and minimizing desktop load. As the numberand range of types of threats has increased, so may have the level ofconnectivity available to all IT users. This may have lead to a rapidincrease in the speed at which threats may move. Today, an unprotectedPC connected to the internet 154 may be infected quickly, say within 10minutes, which may require acceleration for the delivery of threatprotection. Where once, monthly updates may have been sufficient, thethreat management facility 100 may automatically and seamlessly updateits product set against spam and virus threats quickly, for instance,every five minutes, every minute, continuously, or the like. Analysisand testing may be increasingly automated, and also may be performedmore frequently; for instance, it may be completed in 15 minutes, andmay do so without compromising quality. The threat management facility100 may also extend techniques that may have been developed for virusand malware protection, and provide them to enterprise facility 102network administrators to better control their environments. In additionto stopping malicious code, the threat management facility 100 mayprovide policy management that may be able to control legitimateapplications, such as VoIP, instant messaging, peer-to-peerfile-sharing, and the like, that may undermine productivity and networkperformance within the enterprise facility 102.

The threat management facility 100 may provide an enterprise facility102 protection from computer-based malware, including viruses, spyware,adware, Trojans, intrusion, spam, policy abuse, uncontrolled access, andthe like, where the enterprise facility 102 may be any entity with anetworked computer-based infrastructure. In an embodiment, FIG. 1 maydepict a block diagram of the threat management facility providingprotection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats. Theenterprise facility 102 may be corporate, commercial, educational,governmental, or the like, and the enterprise facility's 102 computernetwork may be distributed amongst a plurality of facilities, and in aplurality of geographical locations. The threat management facility 100may include a plurality of functions, such as security managementfacility 122, policy management facility 112, update facility 120,definitions facility 114, network access rules facility 124, remedialaction facility 128, detection techniques facility 130, testing facility118, threat research facility 132, and the like. In embodiments, thethreat protection provided by the threat management facility 100 mayextend beyond the network boundaries of the enterprise facility 102 toinclude enterprise facility 102 client facility's 144 that have movedinto network connectivity not directly associated or controlled by theenterprise facility 102. Threats to enterprise facility 102 clientfacilities 144 may come from a plurality of sources, such as fromnetwork threats 104, physical proximity threats 110, secondary locationthreats 108, and the like. In embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may provide an enterprise facility 102 protection from aplurality of threats to multiplatform computer resources in a pluralityof locations and network configurations, with an integrated systemapproach.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may be provided as astand-alone solution. In other embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may be integrated into a third-party product. Anapplication programming interface (e.g. a source code interface) may beprovided such that the threat management facility 100 may be integrated.For instance, the threat management facility 100 may be stand-alone inthat it provides direct threat protection to an enterprise or computerresource, where protection is subscribed to directly with the threatmanagement facility 100. Alternatively, the threat management facilitymay offer protection indirectly, through a third-party product, where anenterprise may subscribe to services through the third-party product,and threat protection to the enterprise may be provided by the threatmanagement facility 100 through the third-party product.

The security management facility 122 may include a plurality of elementsthat provide protection from malware to enterprise facility 102 computerresources, including endpoint security and control, email security andcontrol, web security and control, control of unauthorized users,control of guest and non-compliant computers, and the like. The securitymanagement facility 122 may be a software application that may providemalicious code and malicious application protection to a client facility144 computing resource. The security management facility 122 may havethe ability to scan the client facility 144 files for malicious code,remove or quarantine certain applications and files, prevent certainactions, perform remedial actions and perform other security measures.In embodiments, scanning the client facility 144 may include scanningsome or all of the files stored to the client facility 144 on a periodicbasis, may scan applications once the application has been requested toexecute, may scan files as the files are transmitted to or from theclient facility 144, or the like. The scanning of the applications andfiles may be to detect known malicious code or known unwantedapplications. In an embodiment, new malicious code and unwantedapplications may be continually developed and distributed, and updatesto the known code database may be provided on a periodic basis, on ademand basis, on an alert basis, or the like.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide foremail security and control, where security management may help toeliminate spam, viruses, spyware and phishing, control of email content,and the like. The security management facilities 122 email security andcontrol may protect against inbound and outbound threats, protect emailinfrastructure, prevent data leakage, provide spam filtering, and thelike. In an embodiment, security management facility 122 may provide forweb security and control, where security management may help to detector block viruses, spyware, malware, unwanted applications, help controlweb browsing, and the like, which may provide comprehensive web accesscontrol enabling safe, productive web browsing. Web security and controlmay provide internet use policies, reporting on suspect devices,security and content filtering, active monitoring of network traffic,URL filtering, and the like. In an embodiment, the security managementfacility 122 may provide for network access control, which may providecontrol over network connections. Network control may stop unauthorized,guest, or non-compliant systems from accessing networks, and may controlnetwork traffic that may not be bypassed from the client level. Inaddition, network access control may control access to virtual privatenetworks (VPN), where VPNs may be a communications network tunneledthrough another network, establishing a logical connection acting as avirtual network. In embodiments, a VPN may be treated in the same manneras a physical network.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forhost intrusion prevention through behavioral based protection, which mayguard against unknown threats by analyzing behavior before software codeexecutes. Behavioral based protection may monitor code when it runs andintervene if the code is deemed to be suspicious or malicious.Advantages of behavioral based protection over runtime protection mayinclude code being prevented from running, whereas runtime protectionmay only interrupt code that has already partly executed; behavioralprotection may identify malicious code at the gateway or on the fileservers and deletes it before reaching end-point computers; and thelike.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forreputation filtering, which may target or identify sources of knownmalware. For instance, reputation filtering may include lists of URLs ofknown sources of malware or known suspicious IP addresses, or domains,say for spam, that when detected may invoke an action by the threatmanagement facility 100, such as dropping them immediately. By droppingthe source before any interaction can initiate, potential threat sourcesmay be thwarted before any exchange of data can be made.

In embodiments, information may be sent from the enterprise back to athird party, a vendor, or the like, which may lead to improvedperformance of the threat management facility 100. For example, thetypes, times, and number of virus interactions that a client experiencesmay provide useful information for the preventions of future virusthreats. This type of feedback may be useful for any aspect of threatdetection. Feedback of information may also be associated with behaviorsof individuals within the enterprise, such as being associated with mostcommon violations of policy, network access, unauthorized applicationloading, unauthorized external device use, and the like. In embodiments,this type of information feedback may enable the evaluation or profilingof client actions that are violations of policy that may provide apredictive model for the improvement of enterprise policies.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forthe overall security of the enterprise facility 102 network or set ofenterprise facility 102 networks, may provide updates of malicious codeinformation to the enterprise facility 102 network, and associatedclient facilities 144. The updates may be a planned update, an update inreaction to a threat notice, an update in reaction to a request for anupdate, an update based on a search of known malicious code information,or the like. The administration facility 134 may provide control overthe security management facility 122 when updates are performed. Theupdates may be automatically transmitted without an administrationfacility's 134 direct control, manually transmitted by theadministration facility 134, or the like. The security managementfacility 122 may include the management of receiving malicious codedescriptions from a provider, distribution of malicious codedescriptions to enterprise facility 102 networks, distribution ofmalicious code descriptions to client facilities 144, or the like. In anembodiment, the management of malicious code information may be providedto the enterprise facility's 102 network, where the enterprisefacility's 102 network may provide the malicious code informationthrough the enterprise facility's 102 network distribution system.

The threat management facility 100 may provide policy managementfacility 112 that may be able to block non-malicious applications, suchas VoIP 164, instant messaging 162, peer-to-peer file-sharing, and thelike, that may undermine productivity and network performance within theenterprise facility 102. The policy management facility 112 may be a setof rules or policies that may indicate enterprise facility 102 accesspermissions for the client facility 144, such as access permissionsassociated with the network, applications, external computer devices,and the like. The policy management facility 112 may include a database,a text file, a combination of databases and text files, or the like. Inan embodiment, a policy database may be a block list, a black list, anallowed list, a white list, or the like that may provide a list ofenterprise facility 102 external network locations/applications that mayor may not be accessed by the client facility 144. The policy managementfacility 112 may include rules that may be interpreted with respect toan enterprise facility 102 network access request to determine if therequest should be allowed. The rules may provide a generic rule for thetype of access that may be granted; the rules may be related to thepolicies of an enterprise facility 102 for access rights for theenterprise facility's 102 client facility 144. For example, there may bea rule that does not permit access to sporting websites. When a websiteis requested by the client facility 144, a security facility may accessthe rules within a policy facility to determine if the requested accessis related to a sporting website. In an embodiment, the securityfacility may analyze the requested website to determine if the websitematches with any of the policy facility rules.

The policy management facility 112 may be similar to the securitymanagement facility 122 but with the distribution of enterprise facility102 wide access rules and policies that may maintain control of theaccess of client facility 144 to enterprise facility 102 networkresources. The policies may be defined for application type, subset ofapplication capabilities, organization hierarchy, computer facilitytype, user type, network location, time of day, connection type, or thelike. Policies may be maintained by the administration facility 134,through the threat management facility 100, in association with a thirdparty, or the like. For example, a policy may restrict IM 162 activityto only support personnel for communicating with customers. This mayallow communication for departments requiring access, but may maintainthe network bandwidth for other activities by restricting the use of IM162 to only the personnel that need access to IM 162 in support of theenterprise facility 102. In an embodiment, the policy managementfacility 112 may be a standalone application, may be part of the policymanagement facility 112 network server facility 142, may be part of theenterprise facility 102 network, may be part of the client facility 144,or the like.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may provideconfiguration management, which may be similar to policy management, butmay specifically examine the configuration set of applications,operating systems, hardware, and the like, and managing changes to theirconfigurations. Assessment of a configuration may be made against astandard configuration policy, detection of configuration changes,remediation of improper configuration, application of newconfigurations, and the like. An enterprise may keep a set of standardconfiguration rules and policies which may represent the desired stateof the device. For example, a client firewall may be running andinstalled, but in the disabled state, where remediation may be to enablethe firewall. In another example, the enterprise may set a rule thatdisallows the use of USB disks, and sends a configuration change to allclients, which turns off USB drive access via a registry.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may also provide forthe removal of applications that may interfere with the operation of thethreat management facility 100, such as competitor products that mayalso be attempting similar threat management functions. The removal ofsuch products may be initiated automatically whenever such products aredetected. In the case where such applications are services are providedindirectly through a third-party product, the application may besuspended until action is taken to remove or disable the third-partyproduct's protection facility.

Threat management against a sometimes quickly evolving malwareenvironment may require timely updates, and the update managementfacility 120 may be provided by the threat management facility 100.enterprise facility 102. In addition, a policy management facility 112may also require update management (e.g. as provided by the updatefacility 120 herein described), as the enterprise facility 102requirements for policies change enterprise facility 102 server facility142 enterprise facility 102 client facility 144 server facility 142enterprise facility 102. The update management for the security facility122 and policy management facility 112 may be provided directly by thethreat management facility 100, such as by a hosted system or inconjunction with the administration facility 134. In embodiments, thethreat management facility 100 may provide for patch management, where apatch may be an update to an operating system, an application, a systemtool, or the like, where one of the reasons for the patch is to reducevulnerability to threats.

In embodiments, the security facility 122 and policy management facility112 may push information to the enterprise facility 102 network and/orclient facility 144, the enterprise facility 102 network and/or clientfacility 144 may pull information from the security facility 122 andpolicy management facility 112 network server facilities 142, there maybe a combination of pushing and pulling of information between thesecurity facility 122 and the policy management facility 112 networkservers 142, enterprise facility 102 network, and client facilities 144,or the like. For example, the enterprise facility 102 network and/orclient facility 144 may pull information from the security facility 122and policy management facility 112 network server facility 142 mayrequest the information using the security facility 122 and policymanagement facility 112 update module; the request may be based on acertain time period, by a certain time, by a date, on demand, or thelike. In another example, the security facility 122 and policymanagement facility 112 network servers 142 may push the information tothe enterprise facility's 102 network and/or client facility 144 byproviding notification that there are updates available for download andthen transmitting the information. The combination of the securitymanagement 122 network server facility 142 and security update modulemay function substantially the same as the policy management facility112 network server and policy update module by providing information tothe enterprise facility 102 network and the client facility 144 in apush or pull method. In an embodiment, the policy management facility112 and the security facility 122 management update modules may work inconcert to provide all the needed information to the enterprisefacility's 102 network and/or client facility 144 for control ofapplication execution. In an embodiment, the policy update module andsecurity update module may be combined into a single update module.

As threats are identified and characterized, the threat managementfacility 100 may create definition updates that may be used to allow thethreat management facility 100 to detect and remediate the latestmalicious software, unwanted applications, configuration and policychanges, and the like. The threat definition facility 114 may containthreat identification updates, also referred to as definition files. Adefinition file may be a virus identity file that may includedefinitions of known or potential malicious code. The IDE definitionfiles may provide information that may identify malicious code withinfiles, applications, or the like. The definition files may be accessedby security management facility 122 when scanning files or applicationswithin the client facility 144 for the determination of malicious codethat may be within the file or application. The definition files maycontain a number of commands, definitions, or instructions, to be parsedand acted upon, or the like. In embodiments, the client facility 144 maybe updated with new definition files periodically to provide the clientfacility 144 with the most recent malicious code definitions; theupdating may be performed on a set time period, may be updated on demandfrom the client facility 144, may be updated on demand from the network,may be updated on a received malicious code alert, or the like. In anembodiment, the client facility 144 may request an update to thedefinition files from an update facility 120 within the network, mayrequest updated definition files from a computing facility external tothe network, updated definition files may be provided to the clientfacility 114 from within the network, definition files may be providedto the client facility 144 from an external computing facility from anexternal network, or the like.

In an embodiment, a definition management facility 114 may provide forthe timely updates of definition files information to the network,client facilities 144, and the like. New and altered malicious code andmalicious applications may be continually created and distributed tonetworks worldwide. The definition files that maintain the definitionsof the malicious code and malicious application information for theprotection of the networks and client facilities 144 may need continualupdating to provide continual defense of the network and client facility144 from the malicious code and malicious applications. The definitionfiles management may provide for automatic and manual methods ofupdating the definition files. In embodiments, the network may receivedefinition files and distribute the definition files to the networkclient facilities 144, the client facilities 144 may receive thedefinition files directly, or the network and client facilities 144 mayboth receive the definition files, or the like. In an embodiment, thedefinition files may be updated on a fixed periodic basis, on demand bythe network and/or the client facility 144, as a result of an alert of anew malicious code or malicious application, or the like. In anembodiment, the definition files may be released as a supplemental fileto an existing definition files to provide for rapid updating of thedefinition files.

In a similar manner, the security management facility 122 may be used toscan an outgoing file and verify that the outgoing file is permitted tobe transmitted per the enterprise facility 102 rules and policies. Bychecking outgoing files, the security management facility 122 may beable discover malicious code infected files that were not detected asincoming files as a result of the client facility 144 having beenupdated with either new definition files or policy management facility112 information. The definition files may discover the malicious codeinfected file by having received updates of developing malicious codefrom the administration facility 134, updates from a definition filesprovider, or the like. The policy management facility 112 may discoverthe malicious code infected file by having received new updates from theadministration facility 134, from a rules provider, or the like.

The threat management facility 100 may provide for a way to controlaccess to the enterprise facility 102 networks. For instance, theenterprise facility 102 may want to restrict access to certainapplications, networks, files, printers, servers, databases, or thelike. In addition, the enterprise facility 102 may want to restrict useraccess under certain conditions, such as the user's location, usagehistory, need to know, job position, connection type, time of day,method of authentication, client-system configuration, or the like.Network access rules may be developed by the enterprise facility 102, orpre-packaged by a supplier, and managed by the threat managementfacility 100 in conjunction with the administration facility 134.Network access rules and control may be responsible for determining if aclient facility 144 application should be granted access to a requestednetwork location. The network location may be on the same network as thefacility or may be on another network. In an embodiment, the networkaccess control may verify access rights for client facilities 144 fromwithin the network or may verify access rights of computer facilitiesfrom external networks. When network access for a client facility 144 isdenied, the network access control may send an information file to theclient facility 144, the information file may contain data or commandsthat may provide instructions for the remedial action facility 128. Theinformation sent by the network access facility 124 control may be adata file. The data file may contain a number of commands, definitions,instructions, or commands to be parsed and acted upon through theremedial action facility 128, or the like. The information sent by thenetwork access facility 124 control may be a command or command filethat the remedial action facility 128 may access and take action upon.

In an embodiment, the network access rules 124 may provide aninformation store to be accessed by the network access control. Thenetwork access rules facility 124 may include databases such as a blocklist, a black list, an allowed list, a white list, an unacceptablenetwork site database, an acceptable network site database, a networksite reputation database, or the like of network access locations thatmay or may not be accessed by the client facility 144. Additionally, thenetwork access rules facility 124 may incorporate rule evaluation; therule evaluation may parse network access requests and apply the parsedinformation to network access rules. The network access rule facility124 may have a generic set of rules that may be in support of anenterprise facility's 102 network access policies, such as denyingaccess to certain types of websites 158, controlling instant messenger162 accesses, or the like. Rule evaluation may include regularexpression rule evaluation, or other rule evaluation method forinterpreting the network access request and comparing the interpretationto the established rules for network access. In an embodiment, thenetwork access rules facility 124 may receive a rules evaluation requestfrom the network access control and may return the rules evaluation tothe network access control.

Similar to the threat definitions facility 114, the network access rulefacility 124 may provide updated rules and policies to the networkaccess rules facility 124. The network access rules facility 124 may bemaintained by the network administration facility 134 using the networkaccess rules facility 124 management. In an embodiment, the networkadministration facility 134 may be able to maintain a set of accessrules manually by adding rules, changing rules, deleting rules, or thelike. Additionally, the administration facility 134 may be able toretrieve predefined rule sets from a provider that may provide a set ofrules to be applied to an entire enterprise facility 102. The networkadministration facility 134 may be able to modify the predefined rulesas needed for a particular enterprise facility 102 using the networkaccess rules facility 124 management.

When a threat or policy violation is detected by the threat managementfacility 100, the threat management facility 100 may provide for aremedial action facility 128. Remedial action may take a plurality offorms, such as terminating or modifying an ongoing process orinteraction, sending a warning to a client or administration facility134 of an ongoing process or interaction, executing a program orapplication to remediate against a threat or violation, recordinteractions for subsequent evaluation, or the like. Remedial action maybe associated with an application that responds to information that aclient facility 144 network access request has been denied. In anembodiment, when the data file is received, remedial action may parsethe data file, interpret the various aspects of the data file, and acton the parsed data file information to determine actions to be taken onan application requesting access to a denied network location. In anembodiment, when the data file is received, remedial action may accessthe threat definitions to parse the data file and determine an action tobe taken on an application requesting access to a denied networklocation. In an embodiment, the information received from the facilitymay be a command or a command file. The remedial action facility maycarry out any commands that are received or parsed from a data file fromthe facility without performing any interpretation of the commands. Inan embodiment, the remedial action facility may interact with thereceived information and may perform various actions on a clientrequesting access to a denied network location. The action may be one ormore of continuing to block all requests to a denied network location, amalicious code scan on the application, a malicious code scan on theclient facility 144, quarantine of the application, terminating theapplication, isolation of the application, isolation of the clientfacility 144 to a location within the network that restricts networkaccess, blocking a network access port from a client facility 144,reporting the application to a administration facility 134, or the like.

Remedial action may be provided as a result of a detection of a threator violation. The detection techniques facility 130 may includemonitoring the enterprise facility 102 network or end-point devices,such as by monitoring streaming data through the gateway, across thenetwork, through routers and hubs, and the like. The detectiontechniques facility 130 may include monitoring activity and stored fileson computing facilities, such as on server facilities 142, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, other mobile computing devices, and thelike. Detection techniques, such as scanning a computer's stored files,may provide the capability of checking files for stored threats, eitherin the active or passive state. Detection techniques, such as streamingfile management, may provide the capability of checking files receivedat the network, gateway facility, client facility 144, and the like.This may provide the capability of not allowing a streaming file orportions of the streaming file containing malicious code from enteringthe client facility 144, gateway facility, or network. In an embodiment,the streaming file may be broken into blocks of information, and aplurality of virus identities may be used to check each of the blocks ofinformation for malicious code. In an embodiment, any blocks that arenot determined to be clear of malicious code may not be delivered to theclient facility 144, gateway facility, or network.

Verifying that the threat management facility 100 is detecting threatsand violations to established policy, may require the ability to testthe system, either at the system level or for a particular computingcomponent. The testing facility 118 may allow the administrationfacility 134 to coordinate the testing of the security configurations ofclient facility 144 computing facilities on a network. Theadministration facility 134 may be able to send test files to a set ofclient facility 144 computing facilities to test the ability of theclient facility 144 to determine acceptability of the test file. Afterthe test file has been transmitted, a recording facility may record theactions taken by the client facility 144 in reaction to the test file.The recording facility may aggregate the testing information from theclient facility 144 and report the testing information to theadministration facility 134. The administration facility 134 may be ableto determine the level of preparedness of the client facility 144computing facilities by the reported information. Remedial action may betaken for any of the client facility 144 computing facilities asdetermined by the administration facility 134; remedial action may betaken by the administration facility 134 or by the user of the clientfacility 144.

The threat research facility 132 may provide a continuously ongoingeffort to maintain the threat protection capabilities of the threatmanagement facility 100 in light of continuous generation of new orevolved forms of malware. Threat research may include researchers andanalysts working on known and emerging malware, such as viruses,rootkits a spyware, as well as other computer threats such as phishing,spam, scams, and the like. In embodiments, through threat research, thethreat management facility 100 may be able to provide swift, globalresponses to the latest threats.

The threat management facility 100 may provide threat protection to theenterprise facility 102, where the enterprise facility 102 may include aplurality of networked components, such as client facility 144, serverfacility 142, a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server 204,an applications server 210, administration facility 134, firewall 138,gateway, hubs 148, routers, threat management appliance 140, desktopusers, mobile users, and the like. In embodiments, it may be theend-point computer security facility 152, located on a computer'sdesktop, which may provide threat protection to a user, and associatedenterprise facility 102. The end-point computer security facility 152may be an application loaded onto the computer platform or computersupport component, where the application may accommodate the pluralityof computer platforms and/or functional requirements of the component.For instance, a client facility 144 computer may be one of a pluralityof computer platforms, such as Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and the like,where the end-point computer security facility 152 may be adapted to thespecific platform, while maintaining a uniform product and productservices across platforms. Additionally, components may have differentfunctions to serve within the enterprise facility's 102 networkedcomputer-based infrastructure. For instance, computer support componentsprovided as hubs 148, routers, server facility 142, firewalls 138, andthe like, may require unique security application software to protecttheir portion of the system infrastructure, while providing an elementin an integrated threat management system that extends out beyond thethreat management facility 100 to incorporate all computer resourcesunder its protection.

The enterprise facility 102 may include a plurality of client facility144 computing platforms on which the end-point computer securityfacility 152 is adapted. A client facility 144 computing platform may bea computer system that is able to access a service on another computer,such as a server facility 142, via a network. This client facility 144server facility 142 model may apply to a plurality of networkedapplications, such as a client facility 144 connecting to an enterprisefacility 102 application server facility 142, a web browser clientfacility 144 connecting to a web server facility 142, an e-mail clientfacility 144 retrieving e-mail from an internet 154 service provider'smail storage servers 142, and the like. In embodiments, traditionallarge client facility 144 applications may be switched to websites,which may increase the browser's role as a client facility 144. Clients144 may be classified as a function of the extent to which they performtheir own processing. For instance, client facilities 144 are sometimesclassified as a fat client facility 144 or thin client facility 144. Thefat client facility 144, also known as a thick client facility 144 orrich client facility 144, may be a client facility 144 that performs thebulk of data processing operations itself, and does not necessarily relyon the server facility 142. The fat client facility 144 may be mostcommon in the form of a personal computer, where the personal computermay operate independent of any server facility 142. Programmingenvironments for fat clients 144 may include Curl, Delphi, Droplets,Java, win32, X11, and the like. Thin clients 144 may offer minimalprocessing capabilities, for instance, the thin client facility 144 mayprimarily provide a graphical user interface provided by an applicationserver facility 142, which may perform the bulk of any required dataprocessing. Programming environments for thin clients 144 may includeJavaScript/AJAX, ASP, JSP, Ruby on Rails, Python's Django, PHP, and thelike. The client facility 144 may also be a mix of the two, such asprocessing data locally, but relying on a server facility 142 for datastorage. As a result, this hybrid client facility 144 may providebenefits from both the fat client facility 144 type, such as multimediasupport and high performance, and the thin client facility 144 type,such as high manageability and flexibility. In embodiments, the threatmanagement facility 100, and associated end-point computer securityfacility 152, may provide seamless threat protection to the plurality ofclients 144, and client facility 144 types, across the enterprisefacility 102.

The enterprise facility 102 may include a plurality of server facility142, such as application servers 142, communications servers 142, fileservers 142, database servers 142, proxy servers 142, mail servers 142,fax servers 142, game servers 142, web servers 142, and the like. Aserver facility 142, which may also be referred to as a server facility142 application, server facility 142 operating system, server facility142 computer, or the like, may be an application program or operatingsystem that accepts client facility 144 connections in order to servicerequests from clients 144. The server facility 142 application may runon the same computer as the client facility 144 using it, or the serverfacility 142 and the client facility 144 may be running on differentcomputers and communicating across the network. Server facility 142applications may be divided among server facility 142 computers, withthe dividing depending upon the workload. For instance, under light loadconditions all server facility 142 applications may run on a singlecomputer and under heavy load conditions a single server facility 142application may run on multiple computers. In embodiments, the threatmanagement facility 100 may provide threat protection to serverfacilities 142 within the enterprise facility 102 as load conditions andapplication changes are made.

A server facility 142 may also be an appliance facility 140, where theappliance facility 140 provides specific services onto the network.Though the appliance facility 140 is a server facility 142 computer,that may be loaded with a server facility 142 operating system andserver facility 142 application, the enterprise facility 102 user maynot need to configure it, as the configuration may have been performedby a third party. In an embodiment, an enterprise facility 102 appliancemay be a server facility 142 appliance that has been configured andadapted for use with the threat management facility 100, and locatedwithin the facilities of the enterprise facility 102. The enterprisefacility's 102 threat management appliance may enable the enterprisefacility 102 to administer an on-site local managed threat protectionconfiguration, where the administration facility 134 may access thethreat resources through an interface, such as a web portal. In analternate embodiment, the enterprise facility 102 may be managedremotely from a third party, vendor, or the like, without an appliancefacility 140 located within the enterprise facility 102. In thisinstance, the appliance functionality may be a shared hardware productbetween pluralities of enterprises 102. In embodiments, the appliancefacility 140 may be located at the enterprise facility 102, where theenterprise facility 102 maintains a degree of control. In embodiments, ahosted service may be provided, where the appliance 140 may still be anon-site black box to the enterprise facility 102, physically placedthere because of infrastructure requirements, but managed by a thirdparty, vendor, or the like.

Simple server facility 142 appliances may also be utilized across theenterprise facility's 102 network infrastructure, such as switches,routers, wireless routers, hubs 148, gateways, print servers 142, netmodems, and the like. These simple server facility appliances may notrequire configuration by the enterprise facility 102, but may requireprotection from threats via an end-point computer security facility 152.These appliances may provide interconnection services within theenterprise facility 102 network, and therefore may advance the spread ofa threat if not properly protected.

One way for a client facility 144 to be protected from threats fromwithin the enterprise facility 102 network may be a personal firewall. Apersonal firewall may be an application that controls network traffic toand from a client, permitting or denying communications based on asecurity policy. Personal firewalls may be designed for use byend-users, which may result in protection for only the computer on whichit's installed. Personal firewalls may be able to control networktraffic by providing prompts each time a connection is attempted andadapting security policy accordingly. Personal firewalls may alsoprovide some level of intrusion detection, which may allow the softwareto terminate or block connectivity where it suspects an intrusion isbeing attempted. Other features that may be provided by a personalfirewall may include alerts about outgoing connection attempts, controlof program access to networks, hiding the client from port scans by notresponding to unsolicited network traffic, monitoring of applicationsthat may be listening for incoming connections, monitoring andregulation of incoming and outgoing network traffic, prevention ofunwanted network traffic from installed applications, reportingapplications that make connection attempts, reporting destinationservers with which applications may be attempting communications, andthe like. In embodiments, the personal firewall may be provided by thetreat management facility 100.

Another important component that may be protected by an end-pointcomputer security facility 152 is a network firewall facility 138, whichmay be a hardware or software device that may be configured to permit,deny, or proxy data through a computer network that has different levelsof trust in its source of data. For instance, an internal enterprisefacility 102 network may have a high level of trust, because the sourceof all data has been sourced from within the enterprise facility 102. Anexample of a low level of trust is the Internet 154, because the sourceof data may be unknown. A zone with an intermediate trust level,situated between the Internet 154 and a trusted internal network, may bereferred to as a “perimeter network”. Since firewall facilities 138represent boundaries between threat levels, the end-point computersecurity facility 152 associated with the firewall facility 138 mayprovide resources that may control the flow of threats at thisenterprise facility 102 network entry point. Firewall facilities 138,and associated end-point computer security facility 152, may also beassociated with a network node that may be equipped for interfacingbetween networks that use different protocols. In embodiments, theend-point computer security facility 152 may provide threat protectionin a plurality of network infrastructure locations, such as at theenterprise facility 102 network entry point, i.e. the firewall facility138 or gateway; at the server facility 142; at distribution pointswithin the network, i.e. the routers and hubs 148; at the desktop ofclient facility 144 computers; and the like. In embodiments, the mosteffective location for threat detection may be at the user's computerdesktop end-point computer security facility 152.

The interface between the threat management facility 100 and theenterprise facility 102, and through the appliance facility 140 toembedded end-point computer security facilities, may include a set oftools that may be the same for all enterprise implementations, but alloweach enterprise to implement different controls. In embodiments, thesecontrols may include both automatic actions and managed actions.Automatic actions may include downloads of the end-point computersecurity facility 152 to components of the enterprise facility 102,downloads of updates to existing end-point computer security facilitiesof the enterprise facility 102, uploaded network interaction requestsfrom enterprise facility 102 components to the threat managementfacility 100, and the like. In embodiments, automatic interactionsbetween the enterprise facility 102 and the threat management facility100 may be configured by the threat management facility 100 and anadministration facility 134 in the enterprise facility 102. Theadministration facility 134 may configure policy rules that determineinteractions, such as developing rules for accessing applications, as inwho is authorized and when applications may be used; establishing rulesfor ethical behavior and activities; rules governing the use ofentertainment software such as games, or personal use software such asIM 162 and VoIP 164; rules for determining access to enterprise facility102 computing resources, including authentication, levels of access,risk assessment, and usage history tracking; rules for when an action isnot allowed, such as whether an action is completely deigned or justmodified in its execution; and the like. The administration facility 134may also establish license management, which in turn may furtherdetermine interactions associated with a licensed application. Inembodiments, interactions between the threat management facility 100 andthe enterprise facility 102 may provide threat protection to theenterprise facility 102 by managing the flow of network data into andout of the enterprise facility 102 through automatic actions that may beconfigured by the threat management facility 100 or the administrationfacility 134.

Client facilities 144 within the enterprise facility 102 may beconnected to the enterprise facility 102 network by way of wired networkfacilities 148 or wireless network facilities 150. Client facilities 144connected to the enterprise facility 102 network via a wired facility148 or wireless facility 150 may receive similar protection, as bothconnection types are ultimately connected to the same enterprisefacility 102 network, with the same end-point computer security facility152, and the same threat protected enterprise facility 102 environment.Mobile wireless facility 150 clients 144, because of their ability toconnect to any wireless 150 network access point, may connect to theinternet 154 outside the enterprise facility 102, and therefore outsidethe threat-protected environment of the enterprise facility 102. In thisinstance the mobile client facility 144, if not for the presence of theend-point computer security facility 152 may experience a malware attackor perform actions counter to enterprise facility 102 establishedpolicies. In addition, there may be a plurality of ways for the threatmanagement facility 100 to protect the out-of-enterprise facility 102mobile client facility 144 that has an embedded end-point computersecurity facility 152, such as by providing URL filtering in personalrouters, using a web appliance as a DNS proxy, or the like. Mobileclient facilities 144 that are components of the enterprise facility 102but temporarily outside connectivity with the enterprise facility 102network, may be provided with the same threat protection and policycontrol as client facilities 144 inside the enterprise facility 102. Inaddition, mobile client facilities 144 may receive the same interactionsto and from the threat management facility 100 as client facilities 144inside the enterprise facility 102, where mobile client facilities 144may be considered a virtual extension of the enterprise facility 102,receiving all the same services via their embedded end-point computersecurity facility 152.

Interactions between the threat management facility 100 and thecomponents of the enterprise facility 102, including mobile clientfacility 144 extensions of the enterprise facility 102, may ultimatelybe connected through the internet 154. Threat management facility 100downloads and upgrades to the enterprise facility 102 may be passed fromthe firewalled networks of the threat management facility 100 through tothe end-point computer security facility 152 equipped components of theenterprise facility 102. In turn the end-point computer securityfacility 152 components of the enterprise facility 102 may upload policyand access requests back across the internet 154 and through to thethreat management facility 100. The Internet 154 however, is also thepath through which threats may be transmitted from their source. Thesenetwork threats may include threats from a plurality of sources,including websites 158, e-mail 160, IM 162, VoIP 164, applicationsoftware, and the like. These threats may attempt to attack a mobileenterprise facility 102 client facility 144 equipped with an end-pointcomputer security facility 152, but in embodiments, as long as themobile client facility 144 is embedded with an end-point computersecurity facility 152, as described above, threats may have no bettersuccess than if the mobile client facility 144 where inside theenterprise facility 102.

However, if the mobile client facility 144 where to attempt to connectinto an unprotected connection point, such as at a secondary location108 that is not a part of the enterprise facility 102, the mobile clientfacility 144 may be required to request network interactions through thethreat management facility 100, where contacting the threat managementfacility 100 may be performed prior to any other network action. Inembodiments, the client facility's 144 end-point computer securityfacility 152 may manage actions in unprotected network environments suchas when the client facility 144 is in a secondary location 108 orconnecting wirelessly 150 to a non-enterprise facility 102 wirelessinternet 154 connection, where the end-point computer security facility152 may dictate what actions are allowed, blocked, modified, or thelike. For instance, if the client facility's 144 end-point computersecurity facility 152 is unable to establish a secured connection to thethreat management facility 100, the end-point computer security facility152 may inform the user of such, and recommend that the connection notbe made. In the instance when the user chooses to connect despite therecommendation, the end-point computer security facility 152 may performspecific actions during or after the unprotected connection is made,including running scans during the connection period, running scansafter the connection is terminated, storing interactions for subsequentthreat and policy evaluation, contacting the threat management facility100 upon first instance of a secured connection for further actions andor scanning, restricting access to network and local resources, or thelike. In embodiments, the end-point computer security facility 152 mayperform specific actions to remediate possible threat incursions orpolicy violations during or after the unprotected connection.

The secondary location 108 may have no end-point computer securityfacilities 152 as a part of its computer components, such as itsfirewalls 138, servers 142, clients 144, hubs 148, wireless hubs 150,and the like. As a result, the computer components of the secondarylocation 108 may be open to threat attacks, and become potential sourcesof threats, as well as any mobile enterprise facility 102 clients 144that may be connected to the secondary location's 108 network. In thisinstance, these computer components may now unknowingly spread a threatto other components connected to the network.

Some threats may not come directly from the Internet 154, such as fromnon-enterprise facility 102 controlled mobile devices that arephysically brought into the enterprise facility 102 and connected to theenterprise facility 102 client facilities 144. The connection may bemade from direct connection with the enterprise facility's 102 clientfacility 144, such as through a USB port, or in physical proximity withthe enterprise facility's 102 client facility 144 such that a wirelessfacility 150 connection can be established, such as through a Bluetoothconnection. These physical proximity threats 110 may be another mobilecomputing device, a portable memory storage device, a mobilecommunications device, or the like, such as CDs and DVDs 170, memorystick 174, flash drive 174, external hard drive, cell phone 178, PDAs180, MP3 players, digital cameras, point-to-point devices, or the like.A physical proximity threat 110 may have been previously infiltrated bynetwork threats while connected to an unprotected network connectionoutside the enterprise facility 102, and when connected to theenterprise facility 102 client facility 144, pose a threat. Because oftheir mobile nature, physical proximity threats 110 may infiltratecomputing resources in any location, such as being physically broughtinto the enterprise facility 102 site, connected to an enterprisefacility 102 client facility 144 while that client facility 144 ismobile, plugged into an unprotected client facility 144 at a secondarylocation 108, and the like. A mobile device, once connected to anunprotected computer resource, may become a physical proximity threat110. In embodiments, the end-point computer security facility 152 mayprovide enterprise facility 102 computing resources with threatprotection against physical proximity threats 110, for instance, throughscanning the device prior to allowing data transfers, through securityvalidation certificates, through establishing a safe zone within theenterprise facility 102 computing resource to transfer data into forevaluation, and the like.

Now that the overall system has been described, we turn towards a set ofdynamic internet address assignment embodiments, where the assignmentmay be based on user identity and policy compliance. It should beunderstood that the following embodiments may be managed through athreat management facility 100 along with other services, such as thosedescribed herein.

In embodiments, the client 144 when connecting to a network, requests aninternet protocol (IP) address from a dynamic host configurationprotocol (DHCP) server 204. The responding DHCP server 204 may thenassign an IP address to the client. The DHCP server 204 may also assignDHCP options to the client 144 that are necessary for the client 144 tooperate on an IP network. The present invention may then intercept theassignment process, and intervene with the DHCP server 204 prior to theinitially assigned IP address and the DHCP options being transmittedback to the client 144. This may be done in order to provide theopportunity to change the IP assignment and/or the DHCP options based ona policy, where the change may be based on user identity, policycompliance, and the like. Through the present invention, the networkadministrator 134 may be provided better control over the use and accessof clients 144 and users to the network through a policy managementfacility 112. The present invention may thus increase the security ofthe network.

In embodiments, the present invention may facilitate the interception ofthe IP assignment process through software placed on the DHCP server204A, often referred to as a software plug-in 208. This DHCP plug-in 208may provide both a mechanism for interrupting the transmission ofinitially assigned IP address and DHCP options, and for a communicationsinterface to the policy management facility 112. In embodiments, thiscommunications interface may be made directly or indirectly, such asthrough a server 142, applications server 210, and the like. Throughthis interface, the DHCP plug-in 208 may provide client information tothe policy management facility 134 that was gathered by the DHCP server204 during the period when the client 144 was making the IP assignmentrequest. Client information, such as information related to the user,compliance status, client configuration, and the like, may then beutilized by the policy management facility 112 to determine what networkaccess parameters to grant to the client 144. In embodiments, thegranting of network access parameters to the client 144, or therestriction thereof, may be provided through a selection of IP addressand/or DHCP options, which when selected by the policy managementfacility 112 may be communicated back to the DHCP plug-in 208. Finally,the DHCP plug-in 208 may provide the new IP address and/or DHCP optionsto the DHCP server 204A, which may then change the initially assignedclient IP address and/or DHCP options, to the new client IP addressand/or DHCP options for transmission to the client 144. In embodiments,the changes may be only to the DHCP options, only to the IP address, toboth the IP address and DHCP options, and the like. In embodiments, thechanges to an IP address or DHCP option may be made by the DHCP plug-in208 or DHCP server 204A as a result of communications from the policymanagement facility 112.

In embodiments, the client 144 may receive an IP address and DHCPoptions that may restrict a user's access to the network. For instance,the client user may be listed as part of an engineering department, andas a result their network access may be determined by what policydictates access is to be for the engineering department, such as toengineering applications, engineering databases, technical searchengines, design tools, and the like. Or, the client user may be listedas a part of a human resources department, and as a result their networkaccess may be determined by what policy dictates access is to be for thehuman resources department, such as to personnel files, appraisal files,facility access lists, and the like. In another instance, the clientuser may be a top executive of the company, and as a result theirnetwork access may provide for open access to all network resources.

In embodiments, the client 144 may receive an IP address and DHCPoptions that may restrict the client 144 access to the network. Forinstance, the client 144 may be determined to be out of compliance withrespect to the software licenses on the client 144, malware protectionsoftware, updates to software, and the like. If the client 144 isdetermined to be out of compliance, the IP address and DHCP options maybe related to restricted network access, such as being in quarantine,restricted to only external access, disconnected from the network, andthe like. In embodiments, if the client 144 is found to be withincompliance, the client 144 may receive an IP address and DHCP optionsthat provide normal network access relative to their user accessprivileges.

In embodiments, the present invention may provide for a more securenetwork environment due the control of client network access enabledthrough established policies within the policy management facility 112.

Referring to FIG. 2 a process flow embodiment is shown for dynamicinternet address assignment based on user identity and policycompliance. While describing FIG. 2, references may be made to FIG. 1.Further, those skilled in the art would appreciate that the process flowof FIG. 2 may be implemented in any other environment apart from FIG. 1.Further, it may be noted that the process flow may include some or allprocess blocks as shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, at step 1, the client 144 may request an IP addressfrom a DHCP server 204A. The client 144 may provide client information202 to the DHCP server 204A. The client may include client information202 and the security facility 152. Further it should be noted that asingle client 144 is shown in FIG. 2. However, those skilled in the artwould appreciate that one or more clients may be present.

In embodiments, the client request may be made when the client 144initializes the network. The network may be a wired or wireless. Inembodiments, the client 144 may request an IP address from the DHCPserver 204A when connecting to the network for a first time. Inembodiments, the client 144 may request the IP address from the DHCPserver 204A during boot up. In embodiments, the client request may bemade in association with a lease. In embodiment, the client request maybe generated through a TCP/IP configured software resident on the client144. In embodiments, the client request for the IP address may be madein association with a security threat detected by the client end-pointsecurity facility 152.

In embodiments, the DHCP server 204A may implement a protocol. Theprotocol may be used by the client 144 to obtain parameters necessaryfor the client 144 to operate on an internet protocol (IP) network.Further, in embodiments, the parameter may be an IP address, a subnetmask, a default gateway, a lease, a TCP/IP configuration parameter, orsome other type of parameter. In embodiments, the lease may beassociated with the length of time for which an IP address may beallocated. Further, the lease may be renewed.

In embodiments, the client 144 may send a broadcast query on the network154 requesting for parameters from the DHCP server 204A. In embodiments,the broadcast query may be associated with discovery about the availableDHCP servers including the DHCP server 204A on the physical subnet. Forexample, the broadcast query may discover the DHCP server 204A or theDHCP server 204B. In embodiments, the client 144 may send the broadcastquery when the client 144 performs network initialization. Inembodiments, the client 144 may send the broadcast query when the client144 boots up.

In embodiments, the DHCP server 204A may provide a dynamic allocation ofthe IP addresses. Further, the dynamic allocation may provide a range ofIP addresses. The range of IP addresses may be assigned by theadministrator 134. For example, the DHCP server 204A may provide IPaddresses ranging from 202.12.12.100 to 202.12.12.176 that may beassigned by the network administrator. In embodiments, the dynamicallocation may utilize the lease. The lease may represent the timeperiod for which the IP address may be valid.

In embodiments, the DHCP server 204A may manage multiple IP addresses.The IP addresses that may be managed by the DHCP server may beallocated. The allocation may be made by an internet assigned numbersauthority. In embodiments, the allocation of IP address may be by aregional internet registry. In embodiments, the allocation of IP addressmay be by an enterprise administrator.

In embodiments, a unique IP address may be assigned to the networkcomponents of an IP network. For example, the client 144A may beallocated an IP address 202.123.11.110 the client 144B may be allocatedIP address 202.123.11.111 and the like. The unique IP addresses assignedto the client 144A and the client 144B may enable the client 144A andthe client 144B to communicate with each other. Further, those skilledin the art would appreciate that other network components may beassigned IP address that would be unique in the network and may allowthem to communicate with other network components in the network. Inembodiments, the IP address may be a unique IP address on the internet154. In embodiments, the IP address may be for a specific network. Forexample, the unique IP may be for a LAN network. In embodiments, the IPaddress may be unique for an enterprise 102. In embodiments, the IPaddress may be private.

In embodiments, the client 144 may provide the client information 202along with the request for an IP address to the DHCP server 204A. Inembodiments, the client information 202 may be automatically provided tothe DHCP server 204A along with client request for IP address. Inembodiments, the client information 202 may be provided to the DHCPserver 204A on request. Further, the DHCP server 204A may request forclient information 202 whenever the request for IP address is made bythe client 144. In embodiments, the client information 202 request maybe made by the DHCP server 204A in association with the DHCP plug-in208. In embodiments, the client information request may be made wheneverthe DHCP server request may be initiated by the DHCP-plug-in 208.

In embodiments, the client information 202 may be a MAC address, a timeof day, a current location of the client, a user ID, a user name, an IPaddress requested by the client, a DHCP option requested by the client,a client capability, or some other type of client information. Inembodiments, the client capability may be due to presence of a softwareapplication. In embodiments, the client capability may be a networkaccess control capability.

In embodiments, the client information 202 may be associated withsecurity vulnerability. In embodiments, the security vulnerability maybe associated with malware security venerability. Further, the malwaresecurity vulnerability may be associated with the client 144 having noend-point security facility 152. The end-point computer securityfacility 152 may be the malware security software.

In embodiments, the malware security vulnerability may be associatedwith the client 144 having out of date end-point computer securityfacility 152. In embodiments, the malware security vulnerability may beassociated with the client end-point security facility 152 that maydetect a malware threat. In embodiments, the malware securityvulnerability may be from the client end-point security facility 152that may detect suspicious behavior.

In embodiments, the security vulnerability may be associated with aclient end-point firewall. In embodiments, there may not be any clientend-point firewall. In embodiments, the client end-point firewall may beimproperly configured.

In embodiments, the client information may be software vulnerability.Further, the software vulnerability may be associated with a license.The license may be out of date. In embodiments, there may be no validlicense agreement available with the client 144.

In embodiments, the software vulnerability may be associated with aregistration. Further, the registration may be out of date. Inembodiments, the registration may not be a valid registration. Inembodiments, the software vulnerability may be an unauthorized softwareapplication that may be associated with the client 144.

In embodiments, the client information 202 may be a client configurationstatus. The client information status may be associated with the policymanagement facility 112. The policy management facility 112 may read theconfiguration status as an indication of policy compliance. Inembodiments, the client information status may be associated with theclient operating system. In embodiments, the client information statusmay be associated with the client end point security facility 152.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 2 a first IP assignmentand a first multiple DHCP options may be formulated at the DHCP server204A.

In embodiments, the multiple DHCP options associated with DHCP server204A may be used to assign network configuration parameters. Theconfiguration may be automatic. In embodiments, the configuration may befor IP hosts. In embodiments, the network configuration parameter may beassociated with full network access. In embodiments, the networkconfiguration parameter may be associated with normal network access. Inembodiments, the network configuration parameter may be associated withrestricted access. The restricted access may provide external networkaccess including an access to internet 154. In embodiments, the networkconfiguration parameter may be associated with isolating the client 144Afrom client 144B. The isolated client 144A may be associated withquarantine.

In embodiments, the network configuration parameter may be a subnetmask, a router, a time server, a name server, a domain server, a logserver, a quotes server, a LPR server, an impress server, a RLP server,a hostname, a domain name, a static route, a vendor specific, an addressrequest, an address time, a class ID, a client ID, a relay agentinformation, a classless static route, an IEE 802.1Q VLAN ID, or someother type of network configuration parameters.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 3. The DHCP plug-in 208may intercept the first IP assignment and the multiple DHCP options. TheDHCP plug-in 208 may be provided in the DHCP server 204A. The DHCPplug-in 208 may act as an application server client to an applicationserver 210A. As result of the interception, the process flow of FIG. 2may stop the sending of information relating to the first IP assignmentand the multiple DHCP options to the client 144.

In embodiments, the interception may be provided by the DHCP plug-in208. In embodiments, the interception may be provided by the applicationserver 210. In embodiments, the interception may be provided by thepolicy management facility 112.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 4, the DHCP plug-in 208may send the client information to the application server 210.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2, at step 5, the applicationserver 210 may send the client information to the policy managementfacility 112. The policy management facility 112 may formulate a secondmultiple DHCP options in association with policy associated with theenterprise 102.

In embodiments, the formulation of the second multiple DHCP options maybe in association with the policy management facility 112. The policymanagement facility 112 may be associated with a policy. The policy maybe associated with a user identification. For example, when a user isidentified as an administrator of the network a super user policy may beimplemented. The user identification may be associated with anenterprise organization set of policies for the enterprise 102. Inembodiments, the enterprise organizational set of policies may beassociated with a department. In embodiments, the enterpriseorganizational set of policies may be associated with a managementposition within the enterprise. In embodiments, the enterpriseorganizational set of policies may be associated with a personnelposition within the enterprise. In embodiments, the enterpriseorganizational set of policies may be associated with an outsidecontractor. In embodiments, the enterprise organizational set ofpolicies may be associated with a visitor to the enterprise.

In embodiments, the user identification may be associated withemployment status. In embodiment, the user identification may beassociated with personal policy profile.

In embodiments, the profile may be associated with the clientconfiguration. The client configuration may be associated withcompliance. Further, the compliance may be end-point securitycompliance. Furthermore, the end-point security may be associated withclient 144 that may have updated end-point security software 152.

In embodiments, the compliance may be a software application compliance,a hardware compliance, a registration compliance, a license compliance,or some other type of compliance.

In embodiments, the client configuration may be associated with a clientcapability. The client capability may be a software capability, ahardware capability, a network access capability, an interfacecapability, or some other type of client capability.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with an end-point securitystatus. The end-point security status may indicate detection of malware.In embodiments, the end point security status may indicate a detectionof suspicious behavior. The suspicious behavior may be associated with asoftware file. In embodiments, the suspicious behavior may be associatedwith a user action.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with a location. Inembodiments, the location may be a current location, a geographiclocation, a personal location, mobile location, an enterprise location,or some other type of location. In embodiments the location may beassociated with the home location, the previous location, or some othertype of location.

In embodiments, the policy may be associated with time. The time may beassociated with work hours. In embodiments, the time may normal workinghours, after working hours, late night, or some other time.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 6, the formulated secondmultiple DHCP options may be sent from the policy management facility112 to the application server 210. In embodiments, the formulated secondmultiple DHCP options may be sent directly to the DHCP plug-in 208, ordirectly to the DHCP server 204.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 7 the application server210 may send the formulated multiple DHCP options information to DHCPplug-in. 208.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 8, the formulatedmultiple DHCP options received by the DHCP plug-in. 208 may beimplemented on the DHCP server 204A. The DHCP server 204A may change theDHCP options from the first IP assignment and first multiple DHCPoptions to the second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP optionsin association with DHCP plug-in 208.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 9, the DHCP server 204Amay send the second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP optionsto the client 144. The client 144 may apply the second IP assignment andthe second multiple DHCP options in association with the client securityfacility 152.

Referring to the process flow of FIG. 2 at step 10, the client 144 maycommunicate with the application server 210.

Referring to FIG. 3, a process 300 is illustrated. The process 300starts at logical block 302. At logical block 302 the client 144 may bepresented. The client 144 may request an IP address from the DHCP server204A. In addition, the client 144 may provide client information to theDHCP server 204A.

At logical block 304, the DHCP server 204A may formulate a first IPassignment and a first multiple DHCP options. At logical block 308, thepolicy management facility 112 may intercept the first IP assignment andthe first multiple DHCP options. As a result of interception by thepolicy management facility 112, the DHCP server 204A may stop thesending of the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP option tothe client 144.

At logical block 310, the client information may be sent from the DHCPserver 204A to the policy management facility 112.

At logical block 312, a second set of multiple DHCP options may beformulated. The formulation of the second multiple DHCP options may bein association with policy management facility 112. The second multipleDHCP options may be sent from the policy management facility 112 to theDHCP server 204A.

At logical block 314, the DHCP server 204A may change the first IPassignment and the first multiple DHCP options to the second IPassignment and the second multiple DHCP options.

At logical block 318, the DHCP server 204A may send the second IPassignment and the second multiple DHCP options to the client 144. Theclient 144 may apply the second IP assignment and the second multipleDHCP options in association with a client security facility 152.

Referring to FIG. 4, a process 400 is illustrated. The process 400starts at logical block 402. At logical block 402 a client 144 may bepresented. The client 144 may request an IP address from the DHCP server204A. In addition, the client 144 may provide client information to theDHCP server 204A.

At logical block 404, the DHCP server 204A may formulate a first IPassignment and a first multiple DHCP options. At logical block 408, aDHCP plug-in 208 may be provided in the DHCP server 204A. At logicalblock 410, the DHCP plug-in 208 may intercept the first IP assignmentand the first multiple DHCP options. The interception by the DHCPplug-in 208 may stop the sending of the first IP assignment and thefirst multiple DHCP options to the client 144.

At logical block 412, the client information may be sent to the policymanagement facility 112 through the DHCP-plug-in 208.

At logical block 414, a second multiple DHCP options may be formulated.The formulation of the second multiple DHCP options may be inassociation with policy management facility 112. Further, the secondmultiple DHCP options may be sent from the policy management facility112 to the DHCP plug-in 208.

At logical block 418, the DHCP server 204A may change the first IPassignment and the first multiple DHCP options to the second IPassignment and the second multiple DHCP options. In addition thechanging of options from the first IP assignment and the first multipleDHCP options to the second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCPoptions may be in association with the DHCP plug-in 208.

At logical block 420, the DHCP server 204A may send the second IPassignment and the second multiple DHCP options to the client 144. Theclient 144 may apply the second IP assignment and the second multipleDHCP options in association with a client security facility 152.

Referring to FIG. 5, a process 500 is illustrated. The process 500starts at logical block 502. At logical block 502 a client 144 may bepresented. The client 144 may request an IP address from the DHCP server204A. In addition, the client 144 may provide client information to theDHCP server 204A.

At logical block 504, the DHCP server 204A may formulate a first IPassignment and a first multiple DHCP options. At logical block 508, aDHCP plug-in 208 may be provided in the DHCP server 204A. At logicalblock 510, the DHCP plug-in 208 may intercept the first IP assignmentand the first multiple DHCP options. The interception by the DHCPplug-in 208 may stop the sending of the first IP assignment and thefirst multiple DHCP options to the client 144.

At logical block 512, the client information may be sent from the DHCPplug-in 208 to the application server 210.

At logical block 514, the client information may be sent from theapplication server 210 to the policy management facility 112.

At logical block 518, a second multiple DHCP options may be formulated.The formulation of the second multiple DHCP options may be inassociation with policy management facility 112. Further, the secondmultiple DHCP options may be sent from the policy management facility112 to the DHCP plug-in 208 through the application server 210.

At logical block 520, the DHCP server 204A may change the first IPassignment and the first multiple DHCP options to a second IP assignmentand the second multiple DHCP options. In addition the changing ofoptions from the first IP assignment and the first multiple DHCP optionsto the second IP assignment and the second multiple DHCP options may bein association with the DHCP plug-in 208.

At logical block 522, the DHCP server 204A may send the second IPassignment and the second multiple DHCP options to the client 144. Theclient 144 may apply the second IP assignment and the second multipleDHCP options in association with a client security facility 152.

The elements depicted in flow charts and block diagrams throughout thefigures imply logical boundaries between the elements. However,according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depictedelements and the functions thereof may be implemented as parts of amonolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or asmodules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, orany combination of these, and all such implementations are within thescope of the present disclosure. Thus, while the foregoing drawings anddescription set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems, noparticular arrangement of software for implementing these functionalaspects should be inferred from these descriptions unless explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context.

Similarly, it will be appreciated that the various steps identified anddescribed above may be varied, and that the order of steps may beadapted to particular applications of the techniques disclosed herein.All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within thescope of this disclosure. As such, the depiction and/or description ofan order for various steps should not be understood to require aparticular order of execution for those steps, unless required by aparticular application, or explicitly stated or otherwise clear from thecontext.

The methods or processes described above, and steps thereof, may berealized in hardware, software, or any combination of these suitable fora particular application. The hardware may include a general-purposecomputer and/or dedicated computing device. The processes may berealized in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embeddedmicrocontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or otherprogrammable device, along with internal and/or external memory. Theprocesses may also, or instead, be embodied in an application specificintegrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmable array logic,or any other device or combination of devices that may be configured toprocess electronic signals. It will further be appreciated that one ormore of the processes may be realized as computer executable codecreated using a structured programming language such as C, an objectoriented programming language such as C++, or any other high-level orlow-level programming language (including assembly languages, hardwaredescription languages, and database programming languages andtechnologies) that may be stored, compiled or interpreted to run on oneof the above devices, as well as heterogeneous combinations ofprocessors, processor architectures, or combinations of differenthardware and software.

Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinationsthereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executingon one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, means for performing thesteps associated with the processes described above may include any ofthe hardware and/or software described above. All such permutations andcombinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention isnot to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood inthe broadest sense allowable by law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. A method, comprising: presenting a client requesting an IP addressfrom a DHCP server, wherein the client provides client information tothe DHCP server, wherein the client information is a securityvulnerability, and wherein the client requesting is made in associationwith a security threat detected by a client security facility;formulating a first IP assignment and a first plurality of DHCP optionsby the DHCP server; intercepting the first IP assignment and the firstplurality of DHCP options by a policy management facility, whereinintercepting stops the sending of the first IP assignment and the firstplurality of DHCP options to the client; sending client information tothe policy management facility; formulating a second plurality of DHCPoptions in association with the policy management facility, wherein thesecond plurality of DHCP options is sent from the policy managementfacility to the DHCP server; changing the DHCP options in the DHCPserver from the first IP assignment and first plurality of DHCP optionsto a second IP assignment and the second plurality of DHCP options; andsending the second IP assignment and the second plurality of DHCPoptions from the DHCP server to the client, wherein the client appliesthe second IP assignment and the second plurality of DHCP options inassociation with the client security facility.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein the client requesting is made when the client initializes anetwork.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the client requesting isgenerated through a TCP/IP configured software resident on the client.4. The method of claim 1 wherein the security vulnerability isassociated with malware security vulnerability.
 5. The method of claim 4wherein the malware security vulnerability is from the client securityfacility detecting a malware threat.
 6. The method of claim 4 whereinthe malware security vulnerability is from the client security facilitydetecting suspicious behavior.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein theclient information is a software vulnerability.
 8. The method of claim 1wherein the client information is a client configuration status.
 9. Themethod of claim 8 wherein the client configuration status is associatedwith the policy management facility.
 10. The method of claim 9 whereinthe policy management facility reads the configuration status as anindication of policy compliance.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein theformulating the second plurality of DHCP options in association with thepolicy management facility is in association with a policy.
 12. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the DHCP server implements a protocol used bythe client to obtain parameters necessary for the client to operate onan internet protocol (IP) network.
 13. The method of claim 12 whereinthe client sends a broadcast query onto the IP network requesting theparameters from the DHCP server.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein theDHCP server provides for a dynamic allocation of IP addresses.
 15. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the plurality of DHCP options are used toassign network configuration parameters.
 16. The method of claim 15wherein the network configuration parameter is associated with fullnetwork access.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein the networkconfiguration parameter is associated with normal network access. 18.The method of claim 15 wherein the network configuration parameter isassociated with restricted access.
 19. The method of claim 15 whereinthe network configuration parameter is associated with isolating theclient.